How To Do an Editorial Photo-Shoot in Summer Days

When the summer arrives every photographer should take advantage of taking outdoor photos, mostly for the ones who live a little bit in the north or very down in the south.

So, today we’re going to give you some amazing advices and tips when you’re doing a photo-shoot in the summer, when I mean editorial photo-shoot I refer myself to something very organized with a concept, an amazing model and very nice clothes!

First + Model

To begin a nice editorial in the summer you need to be prepared; it’s simple like that! First, you need to find a good model if you want good photos, someone that’s simple to guide and knows how to move, also the model needs to very outgoing to pose in front of everybody (if there’s people in the set).

Second + Clothes

You need to find some good clothes; it’s better if you buy some clothes, if it’s too expensive you can try to buy it and return it after; that’s an option, which is not very good, but it works sometimes for a few photographers with low budget (you need to be very careful about taking care of the clothes).

I think that the best option is to search some new designers or contact a magazine to participate with their clothes (local designers/magazines are the best for this) because they can take advantage of the photos for the brand.

The only thing is that you need to be talk very well about the concept and the ideas of both, so everyone can be happy with the result. Everything will depend on the concept but I highly recommend stamps and bright colors or something with a lot of contrast!

Third + Assistant

Lot of photographers think they can do everything by themselves, and this it’s truth, but if you want to success with a professional photo-shoot you need to hire or tell a friend to assist you. The models will need always something and if you do it by yourself maybe you’ll lost the shoot and time, also you’ll need a reflector or a light for an outdoor photo-shoot; some photographers doesn’t use one but I highly recommend if you want a photo without lot of shadows or with an aggressive contrast.

Fourth + Make-Up-Hairstylist

One thing you need to always think about is the make-up and the hairstylist, I think this is one of the most important issue in an editorial; editorials are made to impress and bring creativity alive, so an original make-up plus the hair will make the whole difference in your photos. So, go and do a re-search of what you love for, talk to your hairstylist/MUA; you can do an ex-change and give the photos as the payment or do some exclusive photos at the moment (close-up) for them; they have incredible ideas, so let them help you to decide in a meeting before the shoot!

Fifth + Production

You need to do a good production, this is all about in a summer photo-shoot that’s basically in outdoors, so you need to prepare everything in your car (if you’re far from your home) or at least pick up a place to shoot close to your house where you can chill and take a rest during the shooting.

Never forget to bring water, food (ask before to the persons involved if they’re vegetarian and what would they like to eat) Also, you need to have some place where everybody can take a rest with some air condition, also a place where the make-up artist could do her job in a very confortable way.

To have a good production you need to know the best hours for the light, it depends in which city you’re but I highly recommend very early in the mornings or late in the afternoon before the sunset (best light ever “sunrise-sunset”) or 3 hours after noon; if you don’t do it like this you’ll have lots of shadows in the face/body, that’s why is better to use a reflector or a light to take them off if you want to take advantage of the daylight.

Sixth + Selection

In this part you need to be very careful about how many photos you will show-up; I recommend no more than 3 photos per outfit, more than that is too repetitive and annoying, even if the model or MUA wants more, you can give the photos to them but for your personal portfolio no more than 3 photos per outfit; if there are two outfits I highly recommend a total of 6 photos or if it’s 3 outfits I also recommend (2) photos per/outfit with a total of 6, also you can chose (1) photo p/outfit (it will depends on how many pages you have) if it’s an online slideshow or a magazine.

Seven + Post-Production

This is the very the ultimate step to have an amazing photo-shoot in summer days, but you need to be careful about it. Some photographers put too much saturation and clean at the extreme the skin; so be careful with this we don’t want plastic/unreal photos; if you can find the perfect mix in the contrast, light, color and skin cleanup is 100% guarantee that your photos will be amazing!

Remember always to do a front page with a white or any color to write the names/positions of the persons involved in the photo-shoot, this is a most; and if it’s for a magazine for sure this will be the first page and also in every corner of each photo.

Eith + Publication

The publication of the photos should be during the summer, they can’t wait to put them out in the winter season, so you need to do the photo-shoot the first days of summer and you need to work fast to show them to the public. Before doing the photo-shoot you need to try to talk to some magazines to see if they want your photos for an editorial publication, if not you’ll put them in your portfolio and social networks.

Here you have 8 steps to have a nice editorial photo-shoot in the summer days. You can go to some brands of clothes to see what’s the style of this summer and try to find out something original but popular at the same time. Remember that you’re the photographer, you have the last decision in everything and this will show your work as a professional, don’t doubt and trust in you inner self as an artist, the best way to know this is to try difference angles and poses! Good luck and have fun in the summer days!